It was no secret the Calgary Flames intended to be sellers at Wednesday's NHL trade deadline.

As it turns out, sales were slow.

Wednesday's deadline passed with just two swaps for the Flames — netminder Reto Berra to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft and right-winger Lee Stempniak to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a third-rounder this summer.

Both deals were made official more than an hour — more than two hours for the Stempniak swap — after the clock stopped on the trade countdown at 1 p.m. MT.

“We spent a lot of time on other possible transactions and were not able to bring anything to fruition,” said Brian Burke, the Flames' president of hockey operations and acting GM.

The only other announcements Wednesday from the Saddledome were the summons of forwards Corban Knight, Ben Hanowksi and Max Reinhart and goalie Joey MacDonald from the American Hockey League's Abbotsford Heat and the demotion of defenceman Derek Smith to the farm club.

The bigger surprises Wednesday might have been who isn't on the move.

Most expected Michael Cammalleri to be traded before Wednesday's deadline, but Burke told reporters that none of the offers for the 31-year-old left-winger made sense. He added he has already reached out to Cammalleri's agent to continue talks about a contract extension.

“I would rather take a chance on keeping him here and signing him than give him away on a terrible deal,” Burke said.

Cammalleri and Butler could both bolt as unrestricted free agents this summer. The same goes for Stempniak, but he'll now join Sidney Crosby & Co. for the stretch run.

“It'll be tough to leave Calgary — I love the city, loved playing here, the fans, teammates, management, the coaches — but it's on to the next challenge and I'm really excited to be going to Pittsburgh,” Stempniak said. “When you look at the teams in the league, that's a team that ranks right up there. They have some unbelievable players and they're having a great season. From my end, I'm just looking to go in there and help out any way I can.”

For the 31-year-old Stempniak, who welcomed twins daughters five days ago, Pittsburgh will be the fifth stop of his NHL career.

The streaky scorer arrived in Calgary in August 2011 in exchange for centre Daymond Langkow and has suited up for 160 games with the Flames, registering 31 goals and 52 assists.

That tally includes eight goals and 15 assists in 52 outings so far this season.

Stempniak, who is earning US$2.5 million this winter, is in the final year of his contract and is slated to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

“I think Lee Stempniak is a really good hockey player. If he was 10 pounds heavier, I think he'd be a dynamite hockey player,” Burke said. “I think he can help Pittsburgh. I told him, 'You have a chance to do something special and get some hardware out of it, so take advantage of it.' ”

In 616 career NHL games, Stempniak has 146 goals and 330 points.

Berra, who was acquired as part of the return for Jay Bouwmeester from the St. Louis Blues just days before the deadline last year and is in his first big-league campaign, had a 9-17-2 record with a 2.95 goals-against average and .897 save percentage in 29 appearances for the Flames this season. Only one of his nine victories has come in regulation time.

The 27-year-old from Switzerland joins Semyon Varlamov and J-S Giguere in a crowded crease in Colorado.

“I had a great time (in Calgary),” Berra said. “It's a great organization. It's great fans, great city and they gave me the opportunity to make my first step into the NHL, so I'm really thankful for that.

“On the other hand, I'm really excited to go to Colorado. Great team and probably a great city, too, a great hockey town, too, and a really famous coach (Patrick Roy). When I was a child in Switzerland, he was probably one of the biggest.”

Berra, who has a cap hit of US$850,000 on his one-year, two-way pact, also becomes an unrestricted free agent after this season.

The Flames immediately turn their attention to Wednesday's meeting with the Ottawa Senators, who acquired longtime Edmonton Oilers right-winger Ales Hemsky prior to the deadline and expect to have him in the lineup.

Knight, who was raised in High River and officially recalled Wednesday morning from Abbotsford, is expected to make his NHL debut against the Senators.

“Ever since I got the call (Tuesday), a lot of memories have been going through my head. My family, they're all going to be here. It's special,” Knight said.